Antony & Cleopatra

Antony & Cleopatra by William Shakespeare, directed by Erin Howell.

Antony and Cleopatra, written around 1606, is one of Shakespeare’s great historical love stories. Mark Antony, Octavius Caesar, and Lepidus have defeated Julius Caesar's assassins and now rule the Roman Empire as a triumvirate.

While in Alexandria, Egypt, and living a life of decadence while conducting an affair with the country’s beautiful queen, Cleopatra, Antony receives word that his Roman wife, Fulvia, is dead, and that Pompey is raising an army to rebel against the triumvirate.

Antony decides to return to Rome. In Antony’s absence, Octavius Caesar and Lepidus, his fellow triumvirs, worry about Pompey’s increasing strength. Caesar condemns Antony for neglecting his duties as a statesman and military officer in order to live a decadent life by Cleopatra’s side.

Antony, his conscience pricked, returns to Rome to help defend the triumvirate, but his heart remains with Cleopatra and his love for her starts to tear him apart.